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Peter Morgan and Pedro Moura Carvalho, with contributions by J.M. Rogers and Rudolf Abraham
This, the second of the two-volume catalogue of the ceramics in the Khalili Collection is devoted to works produced after the Mongol invasion, and includes material from Syria, Iran, Turkey and Spain.
The Collection is outstanding in having large holdings in an area barely represented elsewhere: the pottery of the Timurid period. The pieces were made in Iran and Central Asia in the 15th century, a period when diplomatic and trade links with China were intensive. This large group allows a clear overview of the subject, and enables the full links between the Chinese and Islamic wares to be explored. Safavid blue-and-white wares are also well represented.
Most notable among the many masterpieces in this volume is a unique ceramic figure, some 43 cm high, of a bearded man kneeling in prayer. It was made in Kashan under the Mongols during the second half of the 13th century, but its inscription, which bears the date AD 1259-60, identifies him as the Saljuq ruler Tughril. This is a purely decorative piece, and as such it may be considered as the most remarkable example of portraiture in an extremely small group of Islamic figural objects which have no functional use.
Peter Morgan and Pedro Moura Carvalho, with contributions by J.M. Rogers and Rudolf Abraham
(to be published)
fully illustrated in colour; numerous line drawings; section on inscriptions with translations
35.5 x 25.5 cm
hardback with dust jacket (slipcased)
£89 $180
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